Jelaza Kazone
In which Yulie Shaper is visited by a young lady.
Yulie knows what’s important in a person. What they look like doesn’t matter nearly as much as will they do right by the cats.
When the three of them are seated around the kitchen table, it doesn’t say what the emissary is seated on. It seems unlikely she’d fit in one of Yulie’s chairs. Depending on how tall the emissary is, she might be able to sit on the floor and still be at eye height.
There’s some fascinating potential in the idea of the Bedel getting involved in a project to repair the planet.
I thought of that too, Paul. After all, we’ve been told over and over again that the Bedel say they can repair anything…even Yulie mentions that claim.
Other thoughts:
It occurred to me to be concerned—rather belatedly—about the plans Val Con declines to mention in response to Yulie: the project to gradually increase Surebleak’s temperatures to something more temperate year round. There is so much more involved than a simple rise in temperature. Look what’s happening on our own planet from a rise of barely 1 degree Celsius over the past 100 years. We know Surebleak has lots of ice…how much of it can melt without submerging whatever the landmass is? And that is just one question that occurred to me, who is someone mostly ignorant of the complex interactions of our environmental systems. It seems to me that Korval, and weatherman Brunner, ought to be thinking hard about the law of unintended consequences!
So what else were the two inquisitive notes sung by Emissary Twelve besides a measuring protocol? Are we supposed to recall an additional use? Or have the authors simply allowed Val Con’s thoughts to leave us curious? Or did I misread it as Val Con glossing over something else by telling Yulie about echolocation?
@Paul
I like your idea of “the Bedel getting involved in a project to repair the planet”! It might be that here is something new to learn for them. And such a project might go a long way if there will be again contact with the Bedel ship – or the ship Bedel. So fascinating potential in every way. 🙂
@the project to gradually increase Surebleak’s temperatures to something more temperate year round
I believe those consequences are part of the reason why this will take so long, several generations in fact. And now – with two long scale projects underway they will have to consult with each other – that is the Clutch technicians and Brunner and his specialists – in order to make sure if and how they are affecting each other’s projects. This will make this Clutch – human test ground more interesting. Especially if this will become another project the Bedel will help with.
Ed8r, I don’t think we know of any other use for the specific song Emissary Twelve sings in this chapter. It might have been meant as a statement about Clutch singing in general: this time, Emissary Twelve is singing in order to measure the cave, but there are other uses to which her singing might be put (as indeed we see later in the novel).